Pay compensation of Rs 20,000 to owners of each flat in Dhanori building: Forum to builder

In response to the complaint, Vilas Fulpagare of Sai Developers submitted that the developer never agreed to form a society and develop the lawn. He also submitted that the allegation about leakage from roofs of some of the flats were unfounded. He said the the firm could not provide completion certificates as the file submitted with the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) was pending with the Urban Land Ceiling department. The firm urged that the petition be dismissed. After examining the agreement, the forum observed that the developer was not responsible to develop the lawn or form a society. It, however, came down heavily on the construction firm for not providing conveyance deeds and completion certificates to buyers.

“As per the Maharashtra Apartment Ownership Act, it’s the responsibility of a developer to provide completion certificates and the conveyance deeds to buyers. The developer has committed a crime by violating the Act. The forum wants this deficiency to be immediately rectified,” observed the forum bench headed by V P Utpat. The forum relied on a report submitted by an engineer about the substandard construction and directed the builder to pay Rs 1 lakh to the residents. The forum also ordered the builder to pay Rs 20,000 each to the 27 residents as compensation towards physical and mental agony and litigation charges.

G N Tiwari, retired Master Warrant Officer, Indian Air Force, said, “Most of us booked the flats in 2003-04 but did not get the possession even after the building was completed. So buyers slowly started moving into these flats without acquiring the completion certificates. As there were so many problems, we decided to file a complaint against the builder.”